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Crashlands 2takes you back to the realm of survival, crafting and hilarious dialogue. The game’s signature art style and crafting mechanics are back, and you’ll be honing your fighting and scavenging skills in no time. There are a few new things to learn, and tools to master.
With that being said, some of the game’s enemies, resource management systems and exploration can be a little challenging and complex. Few tips and tricks can help make this process simpler, turning your journey into a memorable one instead of an adventure where you barely managed to scrape through.
Start Farming Close To Objectives
The moment you step into Crashlands 2, one thing is clear: there are a lot of quests to go through. From creatures needing your help to rebuild their civilization to unusual monstrosities lurking about,there are objectives you must completein order to progress the narrative.
With that in mind, each quest will require unique resources in order to build something. The game is rich in crafting mechanics, and gathering resources is what you’ll be doing most of the time. During the first few hours,try to stay close to the object when farming.
This holds especially true when you’re rebuilding Graal’s cabin.Straying away from his location is not a good idea, if you don’t have a Raychette and Rayblade Shanker with you.
If you’ve exhausted raw materials in the area, keep teleporting to and fro between spaces if you can. Usually, you will be able to scavenge the same area again for some materials.
Switch Between Weapon-Types
Once you’ve unlocked the reliable Rayblade Shanker melee weapon, you’ll be met with a bittersweet truth about combat—trusting just one weapon isn’t enough. You’ll need to switch between movement, throwable objects and melee weapons in order to survive well against enemies.
After crafting your first melee weapon, look for Creepthistles.These are throwable objects that deal significant damageto weak enemies who refuse to leave you alone. Since your movement speed will be quite slow in the beginning, it’s best to rely on throwables for a while.
Knuckles, Crushers, Gadgets and Spears will also unlock later on in the game, which provide ample of playstyle options for your character. However, this will take a while to unlock and you’ll need to rely on your first melee weapon and throwables for a while.
When exploring the map, look for shiny, floating objects you can pick. Some of them are Gadgets—powerful weapons you can equip. Molten Cesta is likely the first one you’ll discover.
Craft More Popcork Docks
Early in the game, you’ll be able to craft and place tiles. These are important buildingitems that help you improve flooringand usually serves two purposes. Firstly, to build and upgrade a base, and secondly, to place a walkable space on areas that you can’t access otherwise.
Popcork Docks are useful tiles you can craft and place on surfaceswhere you would otherwise sink or drown(or worse), and helps you cross them as if you’ve built a bridge.
This will help you discover new areas of interest, and even locate entire territories owned by different creatures—some friendly and some deadly.
Track Your Recipes
This one honestly feels like a cheat code. When you open your crafting menu, you’ll see an option to track your recipes from the bottom-right of the screen. While this is a useful thing to do anyway,it serves an important role in exploration.
Other than the main quests you’ll be taking up, setting goals for yourself is an essential thing to do. Exploring and getting lost are built into the foundation of the game, and tracking recipeslets you know that you’re done gathering resourcesfor something.
This way, you can move on to your next bunch of tasks: switch your crafting goals, look for new items, re-check the map, and move on to something new.This helps you stay organized, and you won’t waste time thinking about whether you’ve gathered enough materials for something.
Venture Outside Your Comfort Zone
Once you’re done rebuilding Graal’s cabin, the world will feel slightly easier to explore. You’ll have a trusty Plant Chopper, a melee weapon, and more at your disposal.All these little tools will help you farm resources, as well as venture into the unknown.
It’s easy to keep farming familiar spots over and over again, and it’s perfectly fine to do so. But, this “safe” way of playing the gamedoesn’t yield the kind of rewards you’d wantif you wish to build a stronger character and discover new loot.
As intimidating as it may be, you may make this process a little safer for yourself. Make sure youequip enough Popcork Dorks, Panflaps, and Creepthistlesto survive in harsh conditions. It’s okay to die sometimes, as long as you’re ready to head back and retrieve your D.E.D.
Try to look for teleporters every time you start venturing into areas you’ve not visited before. These are incredibly useful when traveling around for quests and objectives.
Choose The Right Infusions
As you traverse the map, you’ll come across something called Juice Jems. This is an invaluableresource that helps you upgrade your character. The more Juice Jems you have, the better! Sadly, that also makes it a little tough to look for.
The moment you gain your first Juice Jem,you’ll be able to choose an Infusion. Every Infusion provides a unique stat upgrade to your Infnisuit, allows you to run faster, heal better, perceive objects better, and more.
We recommend investing in Lactic Acid Drain or Energized Platelets first. Lactic Acid Drain allows you to run a bit faster, which is great for faster movement and exploration, while Energized Platelets help you regenerate health quickly automatically.
Learn Enemy Movement Patterns
Crashlands 2’s distinct enemy types can easily best you in battle if you’re not familiar with their movements. For this reason,little marks on the groundappear right when they’re about to attack. Some enemies move fast and hit slowly, while others move slowly and hit like a spaceship.
For instance, Wild Sluggabulls may move slowly, but their hits are often devastating. They like to move in groups, andif you’re not careful, you’ll easily be overwhelmedby a horde of Slugabulls while you’re trying to farm resources.
Sluggabuns, on the other hand, are usually great to practice your melee attacks with, since they give you a little time before landing a major attack. The usual pattern is to let them first charge their attack, dodge, then do your melee attack.
TIp: If you time it well, enemies can attack environments around you that in turn provide you with resources!
Don’t Forget Your D.E.Ds
Let’s say you’ve been exploring the map for the last 30 minutes, and suddenly a monstrous creature gets the best of you. The moment your character dies,all your items move to a Deploying Employee Decoy (D.E.D.), which is a little goofy structure that will be marked on the map.
When you respawn, it’s easy to simply move on and start collecting resources again. After all, who wants to go all the way back to a D.E.D.? Well, it might just be worth revisitingall your D.E.Ds once you have respawned.
Make use of teleporters when you’re traveling to these. It can be tricky to grab all your stuff when enemies are attacking you, so try to lure them in a different direction before heading to a D.E.D.
